BLUE REMEMBERED HILLS.

Blue Remembered Hills remains one of Dennis Potter's best known plays, and the one most often produced on the stage (even though it was originally written for television). It is a story about childhood, the "land of lost content" of Housman's aching little verse, quoted in the play's title.

The characters are young children, but Potter's twist here is that they are not played by young child actors. Instead it is adult actors that fill the roles, which of course puts quite a different spin on things, even as the adults act in best childlike manner.

In his introduction to the play, Potter says "it is by far the simplest play I have written, in both form and content. It is
a straightforward play of children at play, seeing and interpreting the world as children do".

It is 1943, in the West Country, with Britain in the midst of war, but for the children of the play, the adult world around them is still largely a mystery. The different children have different fears and temperaments. They tease, play, argue, chase a squirrel. It is still a world of considerable innocence…..but innocence comes tumbling down in an awful climax.

Although his most realistic play, Potter packs his most powerful punch in it.

This modern classic is now standard text for GCSE drama.

Cast

• Willie ....................................... Tom O'Malley
• Peter ....................................... Matt Fullwood
• John ........................................ John Edwards
• Raymond .................................. Matt Hatt
• Angela ..................................... Norma Izon
• Audrey .................................... Denise Williams
• Donald .................................... Gareth Vince